It's been a few years since I took a cross-country road trip, but on every road trip, I can't help but notice that a country station is always in range, while it is difficult to find any rock/pop/whatever you want to call it station, often for hundreds of miles at a stretch. This is why I got satellite radio, and bring a collection of CDs on every road trip.
It seemed that a country music station could be pulled in even on a near dead battery.
I have XM as well and at best listen to handful of channels. Typically OTR on 148 and Yacht Rock are my top picks.
OTR and some audiobooks on disc will go on long trips.
It’s the only way to travel.
Try traveling through the Oklahoma Panhandle during the day. I thought my FM radio had died. AM not much better. Must take CDs. Different at night.
Well over 100 channels of crystal-clear commercial-free music. Well worth the $10/month (I pay an annual fee that works out to about that per device). And there is a fairly large selection of news/talk stations if you don't mind the commercials. And I haven't listened to one second of Howard Stern (another talking point of the anti-satellite radio crowd).
Some of my favorite stations are The Loft, Outlaw Country, Yacht Rock, Willie's Roadhouse, Deep Tracks, Classic Vinyl, Lithium, 1st Wave and at least a dozen or so others. I'm sure there's a few hip hop stations but I've never listed to them.